Sunday, December 16, 2012

Sonia: UPA government will bring food security bill in Parliament soon; cash transfer scheme has been introduced keeping in mind balanced development; UPA II has taken many revolutionary steps: Sonia Gandhi | PM: Excessive pessimism at home has affected growth process, govt committed to accelerate economic growth; some of the decisions we've taken were politically difficult; those opposed to reforms are either ignorant or constrained by outdated ideologies: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh | Cricket: India 297/8 at stumps against England |

Forest exists only in name as trees disappear

14 December 2012

statesman news service
PURULIA, 14 DEC: Rampant felling of trees from the age-old dense forest of Barmessya-Ramnagar under Manbazar, Block-1 has been reported for the past few years. The jungle mafias carry on the work smoothly despite police presence.
Local people say that the jungle was dense with trees at one point of time, that they used to be scared of passing through it even during the day. The tribals depended on the jungle for their livelihood as they used to collect logs and leaves from it. But deforestation have hit them hard and the animals alike. Sources within the forest department said that the situation was very different when the local forest protection committee used to provide protection to the forest. Now both police and the forest personnel are indifferent to the destruction taking place. Local people said the mafias are aided by staff members of both the departments. Neither police, nor the forest administration commented on the issue.